SERVICE ANIMALS IN "NO PETS" BUILDINGS

In another post Tom Marcella said:

Saturday, April 19, 2008

service dogs in no pets associations

I was recently asked if service (or assistant) dogs are allowed in an association that does not allow pets. What is the answer? Are there any state or federal laws on this?
Tom

Posted by tom marcella at 4/19/2008 10:42:00 PM 0 comments
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Service Animals:

Your Admin speaks:

Hi Tom,
This is a very important question so I am posting my response here so it is more visible than in a comment stream.:

Florida Statutes FS-718 is Mute on the question of Service Animals;

However The Fair Housing Act and Florida Statutes at Title XXX / Chapter 413 / FS- 413.08 – 413.081 are unambiguous.

This is a matter of Reasonable Accommodation to a certain set of disabilities and you cannot deny an individual with said disability the services of such a Trained Animal. In the State of Florida this applies in Public Places and in Housing of almost any sort.

To be very specific; these laws cut through any local Declaration of Condominium or Bylaw. To deny such a disabled person the right to his or her Service Animal would be a very serious mistake.

Please read the following extracts and the entire reference.
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http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/foia/tal151.txt

The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C.  3604(f)(3)(B)) prohibits
discrimination against a renter or buyer on the basis of
disability.

Discrimination includes a refusal to make reasonable
accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when
those accommodations may be necessary to afford a person with a
disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a place of
residence.

While the Fair Housing Act and the regulations issued
by the Department of Housing and Urban Development do not
specifically address service animals, it is likely that the Act
would at times require that service animals be allowed in a
housing facility in order to afford a disabled individual fair
use and enjoyment of the facility.

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http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0413/ch0413.htm

413.08 Rights of an individual with a disability; use of a service animal; discrimination in public employment or housing accommodations; penalties.--

(1) As used in this section and s. 413.081, the term:

(a) "Housing accommodation" means any real property or portion thereof which is used or occupied, or intended, arranged, or designed to be used or occupied, as the home, residence, or sleeping place of one or more persons, but does not include any single-family residence, the occupants of which rent, lease, or furnish for compensation not more than one room therein.

(b) "Individual with a disability" means a person who is deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or otherwise physically disabled. As used in this paragraph, the term:

1. "Hard of hearing" means an individual who has suffered a permanent hearing impairment that is severe enough to necessitate the use of amplification devices to discriminate speech sounds in verbal communication.

2. "Physically disabled" means any person who has a physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

Also see: FS 413.08 (6) (b)

(b) An individual with a disability who has a service animal or who obtains a service animal is entitled to full and equal access to all housing accommodations provided for in this section, and such a person may not be required to pay extra compensation for the service animal. However, such a person is liable for any damage done to the premises or to another person on the premises by such an animal. A housing accommodation may request proof of compliance with vaccination requirements.

Dave